Christians are familiar with the apostle Paul's reference to believers being ambassadors for Christ.

We serve as ambassadors for the kingdom of God. We have probably all heard sermons about the duties of an ambassador serving in his country’s diplomatic service.

We associate our responsibility as ambassadors for Christ with living an exemplary life as Christians, and that is certainly part of our responsibility. But do we know what Paul emphasized in referring to us as "ambassadors for Christ?"

"Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

Paul says that reconciliation is our ministry, our service. Can we serve as ambassadors for Christ in this regard when our own example of reconciliation with others is lacking? We have to be able to be reconciled with our neighbor if we want to show others that God's way really works.

Reconciliation contributes to peace. That is an important part of the message that Jesus preached in Galilee and Judea. We can be thankful that God shared this message with us and allowed us to experience reconciliation with Him. As His ambassadors, we are to share this message with others via our words and actions, exhorting them to be reconciled with God.

With these thoughts I wish us all a rewarding Sabbath!